I have never really WATCHED these two movies. I remember seeing them with amma/nanna in bits and pieces and of course saw/heard the songs multiple times.
Today, for the first time, I really watched both the films in their entirity and I completely understand how a generation of women can swoon over Rajesh Khanna.....I feel the same way a little bit......
And what can one say about those two movies that has not been said before.
The happy, vivacious Rajesh Khanna and the dour and disillusioned Amithabh.....the last scene where Anand goes "Main marna nahin chahta" and Bhaskar hearing "Babu Moshay, Zindagi aur Maut Ki Khel Mein Hum Sab Katputhli Hain" and the eerie laughter....I am still a little emotional!!!!!
As for Amar Prem, the quartet of R.D.Burman, Kishore Kumar, Anand Bakshi and Rajesh Khanna that gave Chingari Koi and Kuch To Log Kahenge......the haunting melodies, the moonlit nights and the relationship between a woman cheated by circumstances and a man cheated by life, the tender bond between the courtesan and the innocent child...the family that has no legitimacy, yet, is one in all it's meaning..why is it that most of such stories are from Bengali authors????? "Pushpa, I hate tears". The characters do not shed tons of melodramatic tears, it's emotional without crying, it's romantic without duets.
It's a good day today as I got reacquinted with two of the greatest Hindi movies of all time......
17 comments:
I have seen Anand many times and it is always captivating. I doubt if anyone else could have pulled off the respective roles that RK and AB played- they were peerless. Amar Prem- like you, I saw it in bits. The songs is a different deal, of course- they are eternal melodies.
It is a sad couple of years, when three actors that had genuine charisma have passed: Shammi Kapoor, Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna. I certainly feel a void when I realize they are no more, and thier legacy means nothing to the current generation.
As for 'why only Bengalis': Because they are the cream of the arts in India always, of course. Not just movies too. Even today, if you scan modern Indian painters, Bengalis dominate, followed by Mallus. The few Bengalis I know inevitably have that undefinable spark of creativity. It runs in their blood. And you can always count on an interesting conversation, if you are with them.
We can not compare or utter the name of Rajesh khanna along with anybody,even though they were legends in their own right. He brought a touch of sensitivity to the portrayal of any character he chose,with his histrionic talent..Why can't eternal youth be blessed upon those few ,who captivate heart and soul alike!!
I have seen every movie of Rajesh khanna,including movies like Disco Dancer in which he played guest roles.I share this experience in case of ANR and NTR only.
Jis gali mein thera film na ho kaka
vus gali se hame tho gujarna nahin.
rajesh khanna and kishore kumar .now you know why kishore's songs made me cool down in the morning amma.there were times in our student life when we used see all the 3 shows in a row
the above comment was from Gouri Ranganayaki
We were lucky to be born in the era of Saigal, Rafi, Kishore, Mukhesh, Hemantha Kumar, Manna dey, Latha and Asha.
We were lucky to listen to the lilting, exciting, cheerful, soulful music of S D Burman, R D Burman, Sankar-Jaikishan, Kalyanji-Anandji, Lakshmikant-Pyarelal, Ravi, Qayyam, O P Nayyar, C Ramachandra.
We were lucky to see Raj Kapoor (the Simpleton par excellence), Dilip Kumar (the thespian), Dev Anand ( The larger than life lover boy), Shammi Kapoor ( the irrepressible), Rajendra Kumar ( the Jubilee kumar -the family man), Raj Kumar ( The actor), Rajesh Khanna ( The soft enchanting lover and actor), Big B ( The inimitable),Dharmendra (the Macho man), Sanjeev Kumar ( The versatile actor), ,Sunil Dutt (the soft hero ), Joy Mukherjee (so smooth), Biswajeet (same), The Rugged Khans (Feroz and Sanjay), Sanjay Dutt (the Khalnayak) and the latter day heroes like aamir and Sharukh.
K N Singh (the urbane villain), Pram (versatile), Alit (Mona--!), Amrish Puri (Mugambo hamen Khush kiya), Amjad Khan (Kitne Aadme the Jo flat nahin huye?) were the villains who did their stuff for us.
Actresses like Mena Kumara, Madhubala, Rakhee, Rekha, Sharmeela Tagore and a few dolls.
Now the actors are hackneyed, heroes dirty looking ruffians, heroines are glam dolls skimpily dressed and music is loud and jarring.
Gone are the days of soft wind instruments or string instruments. We hear only Drums and drums. Music is NOT melody oriented but rhythm oriented. Poetry is not the type of BhavaPradhanyam but Layapradhanyam or as a change gibberish.
Do we sound like pessimistic oldies? Yes we are!
Jindagi ke safar me gujar jate hain jo mukam, wo phir nahen aate.
Time for nostalgia and happy memories on a sad occasion. It will be a fitting tribute to the departed.
for the better or the worst everything changes!
i sway to the old melodies and dance to new hip hops... its the mood basically.
Now since the mood is nostalgia..i completely agree with the top guns of the family, yes great losses indeed!
Mostly for the worse, Mruduls. Different is fine, but the quality is reducing. Makes sense too, if you think of it. Poetry comes from contemplation and observation of life...ultimately, you need to spend time. And who has time nowadays?
Don't quite agree with the family line that things are getting worse. I was able to dig up quite a few melodies from recent times that have excellent and meaningful lyrics as well as gentle musical notes. May be it is more a question of absolute numbers vs percentages. When there were fewer movies released per year, there was greater attention paid to every aspect of the song, resulting in a higher percentage of songs that have longevity, as compared to now, where the number of movies produced per year has increased significantly, and consequently the percentage of good movies / songs is down, while the absolute numbers might have stayed the same.
And mruduls, there was josh always, whether rock or disco, techno or pop....Like you said, its the mood
Mruduls!"Dance the body music, music makes you happy" ---osibisa live in chennai in 1960s.
But is body music good? what of the soul and mind?
Krupa! However dark the cloud, there always will be a silver lining. But by and large, it IS dark isn't it?
as for why bengalis---kadupu nindithene kavithvam vasthundi.for people to think dream and visualise arts hunger is a big obstacle .thats why anni kalalu nadula voddune puttayi as there is guarantee of crops and so food gowri
Nanna, if Tatagaru were here, I am sure he would have lament the state of the music and arts in your generation :-)
At least, we got lucky that we got to enjoy the melodies of your AND our youth and as I am going to share for the following next few weeks, perhaps even from YOUR childhood, thanks to the connoisseurs of the family, namely tatagaru, you, amma, ranga babai and gopal babai.
But do we as a family enjoy as much the telugu melodies? Why don't you introduce us to the wonderful world of telugu classics?
Krupa- I don't think we are talking about a change in preferences across generations here. We are talking about a degradation on quality. People may like a remixed song of R D Burman- may even be more peppy- but does that count for good quality of art? We all listen to foot-tapping music from Rahman- no doubt a genius- but would you listen to them again, 10 years later? Evergreen classics stand the test of time- commercial money spinners don't. Quality degrades when a capitalist model is applied- when the returns are measured in terms of rupee ROI than quality. And that change in attitude is a fundamental shift of the last 10 years, when we went capitalistic.
But this is true even in the international context. Can a Justin Bieber match the power of Bob Dylan? Can a gangster rapper produce music comparable to 'It is a wonderful world'? Just see how African American music has changed in the last 30-40 years. From catchy Boney M and throaty blues to Gangster Rap cant be a positive progression, right?
In conclusion, you can call me 'Bhavani Shankar' from Golmal- Mooch nahi to Kuch Nahi! :)
Anna , precisely my point. You might not listen to Jai Ho, but you will still enjoy Chinni Chinna Asai from Roja or Pyaar yeh Jaane Kaisa Hai from Rangeela 15 years later. You might forget Chiku buku raile, but you might still enjoy Chaiyya Chaiyya. Melodies definitely have more staying power than beats, because as people get older (like you and me), they prefer to listen to soft melodies vs loud ruckus and they want to identify with their found/lost love and reminisce on their loss. Hipster beats have a shorter life span as their target audience moves on. But I disagree that only Shakar Jaikishan can produce such melodies with staying power, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy can too. it just takes some time for that to become apparent. The chaff of the yester generation has blown off in the wind and only wheat is left. Right now, the wheat and chaff are mixed together, so its harder work on your part to find the good and weed out the bad.
Guess you are right, Krupa. Every generation has something good and something average. So when the good leaves us, like the Ghost of the Christmas Past,it leaves us with a pang. But the Ghost of the Christmas present was not bad either, and we should enjoy that.
But I enjoyed the comments of all the family members who posted- SLN's comprehensive homage, SGRs coastal explanation, SGKs tribute, Mrudul's lone contribution from the youth gang. We missed SRN and DSK though.
We never dispute that the present composers can churn out good music. But, the pity is that the chaff is outweighing (it will take a lot of chaff to outweigh some good stuff) the grain.
Tatagaru also liked our gen music. tho' he preferred Saigal or Pankaj Malik and Carnatic classical. He gave us permission to listen to Binaca Geet Mala on Wednesdays and he also used to listen to the songs.
I distinctly remember him saying--"what! the purdah song hasn't come yet?" (ref: "pardeme rahne do" from Shikar)
YES! when you can give lilting "chinni chinni Aasa" why go for "chikubuku". If you go back to my comment, you will see that I did not criticise today's composers, but criticised only today's jarring cymbalic, drummy music. Can you imagine a master chef preparing a burnt offering? Why go down the "beat" way when you can give out melody.
90% of Ad jingles are old melodies. None of these 7 day wonders make it there. Not because an Ad has to appeal to old fogies but, as you observed "melody stays".
The other aspect is that the medium IS NOT the message nowadays. No reliance is being placed on hero's heroic qualities. Only physical power (beat 20 hoodlums) and romantic ability
(Charm 3 girls at least). No place for ideals, no place for family, no place for hard work ( Julaiis, Awaras, Romeos, Idiots, who are Desamudurus and Khatharnak people who make Racha showing their Dammu being Oosaravellis.
No respect for people (father always a cussed cursing fellow, Amma a nagging doting servant, Teacher a buffoon, girl friend "ose", all the others and sundry are there just to be the butt of hero's jokes.
Ah! What a bright world where everything ends with lovers getting married.
As Krupakar said, there is degradation of values.
But as my fav saying goes “The world has been going to hell in a handcart and will continue to be so”. We, the people will always live out the times in the best way we can. We can eat cakes if we can't get bread (if cakes are what we are getting instead of sustaining bread.)
art to stay permanent should appeal to the mind and heart( manasu hrudayam)but not to the senses(eyes and ears)
gowri
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